Heat sink

ABSTRACT

A heat sink allowing circuit elements to be simply coupled thereto and allowing a size and a thickness thereof to be adjusted according to the number and capacity of circuit elements. The heat sink includes: a support plate; a plurality of heat radiation pins vertically protruded from one surface of the support plate; an element insertion groove formed to be depressed in a longitudinal direction from the other surface of the support plate; and element support parts formed to be protruded from the element insertion groove and supporting a circuit element. The circuit element slides and is coupled thereto. In addition, the circuit element is freely moved, thereby making it possible to simply correct mounting position.

CROSS REFERENCE(S) TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. Section 119 ofKorean Patent Application Serial Nos. 10-2010-0116173 and10-2011-0087370, entitled “Heat Sink” filed on Nov. 22, 2010 an Aug. 30,2011, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entiretiesinto this application.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to a heat sink, and more particularly, toa heat sink allowing circuit elements to be simply coupled thereto andallowing a size and a thickness thereof to be adjusted according to thenumber and capacity of circuit elements.

2. Description of the Related Art

Generally, a heat sink is mainly mounted on a lower portion of asubstrate and is electrically connected to a circuit element mounted onthe substrate to radiate heat generated from the circuit element to theoutside, thereby preventing the circuit element from being overheated.

This heat sink should be necessarily included in a computer, or thelike, including an operation processing device such as a centralprocessing unit (CPU), or the like, performing a high speed operation aswell as industrial electronic devices. In accordance with the recenttrend toward integration of elements and thinness of electronic devicesin all industrial fields, heat radiation performance of the electronicdevices has become more important.

Further, a high heat radiation element such as a light emitting diode(LED), or the like, has been currently used in a display device such asa flat panel television (TV), a monitor, or the like, used in a statethat it is connected to electronic devices in addition to the electronicdevices. Since the number of products including a high heat radiationand high integration element cannot but increase in accordance with thedevelopment of technology, the heat sink for effectively radiating heatfrom the element has significantly becomes important.

Here, in the case of the heat sink coupled in order to radiate heat fromthe circuit element, through-holes are formed in the circuit element andthe heat sink to which the circuit element is coupled so that ascrew-coupling may be conducted therebetween, a screw is fixed to theheat sink while penetrating through the circuit element, and the heatsink is then coupled to the substrate so that the circuit element ismounted on the substrate.

However, the heat sink having the above-mentioned configuration shouldbe subjected to a process of drilling a hole at a position at which thecircuit element is coupled thereto and fixing it using the screw and besubjected to a process of again drilling a hole and fixing it using thescrew at the time of correction of a coupling position due to erroneousposition setting, which are troublesome processes.

In addition, since a size and a height of the heat sink used in theelectronic devices such as a computer, a monitor, or the like, aredetermined according to a shape of a substrate on which the element ismounted and or a disposition design of the element, the heat sink ismanufactured by fabricating a mold according to a design of a shapedesired by a worker and performing extrusion using the mold.

Here, molds having various shapes cannot but be fabricated according tothe sizes of the heat sinks changed according to each product or thedisposition design of the element, such that a fabricating cost of themold increases. In addition, the heat sinks cannot but be individuallymanufactured through the molds having different sizes and shapes, suchthat a lead time required to manufacture the heat sink increases,thereby deteriorating productivity.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a heat sink allowing acircuit element to slide and to be coupled thereto in a lower portionthereof.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a heat sinkconfigured of unit heat sinks including a protrusion and a groove eachformed at both side portions thereof to allow a size and a thicknessthereof to be adjusted by lateral combination and vertical combinationbetween the unit heat sinks.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, there isprovided a heat sink including: a support plate; a plurality of heatradiation pins vertically protruded from one surface of the supportplate; an element insertion groove formed to be depressed in alongitudinal direction from the other surface of the support plate; andelement support parts formed to be protruded from the element insertiongroove and supporting a circuit element.

An inner side of the element support part supporting the circuit elementmay be formed to be inclined.

The element support part may be formed to be bent in a ‘└’ shape.

The heat sink may further include: a protrusion part formed to beprotruded from one side of the support plate; and a groove formed to bedepressed from the other side of the support plate.

The protrusion part and the groove may have the same width, and thegroove may have a depth that is the same as a protruded length of theprotrusion part.

The support plate may include longitudinal grooves formed in alongitudinal direction thereof in a bottom surface thereof, and alongitudinal groove formed at an outermost side among the longitudinalgrooves may be formed of a step part.

The longitudinal groove may have the same width as that of the heatradiation pin.

The heat radiation pin may include a horizontal protrusion formed on aninner side or an outer side thereof in order to increase a heatradiation area.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a heat sink according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the heat sink according to the exemplaryembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a heat sink according to another exemplaryembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state in which the heat sinksaccording to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention areconnected in parallel with each other;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a state in which the heat sinksaccording to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention arestacked and coupled to each other;

FIG. 6 is a bottom perspective view showing the heat sink according tothe exemplary embodiment of the present invention and a substrate towhich the heat sink is coupled; and

FIG. 7 is a side view showing a state in which the heat sink accordingto the exemplary embodiment of the present invention is coupled to thesubstrate.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will bedescribed with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, theexemplary embodiments are described by way of examples only and thepresent invention is not limited thereto.

In describing the present invention, when a detailed description ofwell-known technology relating to the present invention mayunnecessarily make unclear the spirit of the present invention, adetailed description thereof will be omitted. Further, the followingterminologies are defined in consideration of the functions in thepresent invention and may be construed in different ways by theintention of users and operators. Therefore, the definitions thereofshould be construed based on the contents throughout the specification.

As a result, the spirit of the present invention is determined by theclaims and the following exemplary embodiments may be provided toefficiently describe the spirit of the present invention to thoseskilled in the art.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a heat sink according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a side view of the heatsink according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention;FIG. 3 is a side view showing a heat sink according to another exemplaryembodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a perspective viewshowing a state in which the heat sinks according to the exemplaryembodiment of the present invention are connected in parallel with eachother: and FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a state in which theheat sinks according to the exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention are stacked and coupled to each other.

As shown, the heat sink 100 according to the exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention may be configured to include a support plate 110, aplurality of heat radiation pins 120 vertically protruded upwardly fromthe support plate 110, an element insertion groove 150 formed to bedepressed from a lower portion of the support plate 110 in alongitudinal direction, and element support parts 151 protruded from theelement insertion groove 150 to thereby support a circuit element.

The support plate 110 includes the plurality of heat radiation pins 120vertically protruded therefrom at predetermined intervals and is formedto have a predetermined length and width, such that it may be defined asa basic member configuring a unit heat sink. The support plate 110 has aplate shape and includes the heat radiation pins 120 formed at the sameheight on one surface thereof, such that heat transferred through thesupport plate 110 may be discharged to the outside while beingdissipated through the heat radiation pins 120.

Here, the heat radiation pins 120 may be provided with horizontalprotrusions 121 protruded from predetermined points of inner and outersides thereof in a horizontal direction, wherein the horizontalprotrusions 121 are formed to be protruded in a longitudinal directionof the heat radiation pins 120 to increase a heat radiation area,thereby making it possible to allow heat radiated through the heatradiation pins 120 to be efficiently radiated.

The support plate 110 may include the element insertion groove 150formed to be depressed in the longitudinal direction of the supportplate 110 from one side of the other surface thereof, and the elementinsertion groove 150 may include the element support parts 151 formed atboth sides thereof, wherein the element support parts 151 are protrudedin the longitudinal direction of the support plate 110 and support thecircuit element.

Here, inner sides of the element support parts 151 supporting thecircuit element are formed to be inclined to support both sides of thecircuit element, such that the circuit element may be coupled to theheat sink.

That is, the circuit element may be fitted into and coupled to theelement insertion groove 150 so that both sides thereof are supported bythe inclined surfaces of the element support parts 151. Here, since thecoupled circuit element is not fixedly coupled to the element insertiongroove 150 but is slid along the element insertion groove 150 in a statein which it is supported by the element support part 151, a position ofthe circuit element may not only be simply set but also be simplycorrected.

Here, the element support parts 151 are formed to be bent in a ‘└’ shapeas shown in FIG. 3, such that the circuit element may be fitted into andcoupled to the element insertion groove 150. Here, the coupled circuitelement is coupled to the element insertion groove 150 so as to be slidalong the element insertion groove 150 in a state in which it issupported by the element support parts 151 as described above, thesetting and the correction of the position of the circuit element may besimply performed.

Further, the support plate 110 may include a protrusion part 131 and agroove 132 each formed at both side portions thereof.

The protrusion part 131 may be formed to be protruded at a predeterminedlength from a central portion of one side of the support plate 110, andthe groove 132 may be formed to be depressed at a predetermined lengthfrom a central portion of the other side thereof.

Here, the protrusion part 131 may be formed to have a protruded lengthand width that are the same as a depressed length and depth of thegroove 132. The reason why the protrusion part 131 is formed to have aprotruded length and width that are the same as a depressed length andwidth of the groove 132 is that when the support plates 110 configuringa unit heat sink are horizontally connected to each other, theprotrusion part 131 is insertedly coupled to the groove 132, such thatthe support plates 110 are coupled to each other so as to be closelyadhered to each other, thereby performing parallel coupling between theheat sinks 100.

Here, the groove 132 is formed to have a depth deeper than a width ofthe protrusion part 131 in consideration of a width error that may begenerated at the time of formation of the protrusion part 131 and anerror that may be generated at the time of coupling of the unit heatsink, thereby making it possible to allow close adhesion between thesupport plates 110 to be smoothly performed at the time of the couplingof the unit heat sink.

Meanwhile, the support plate 110 includes a plurality of longitudinalgrooves 141 formed at the same intervals as those of the heat radiationpins 120 in the longitudinal direction of the support plate 110 in anopposite surface to the surface on which the heat radiation pins 120 areformed. A longitudinal groove 141 formed at an outermost side of thesupport plate 110 among the longitudinal grooves 141 may be formed in ashape of a step part 142

The longitudinal grooves 141 and the step parts 142 may be formed tohave widths that are equal to or wider than thicknesses of the heatradiation pins 120 formed to be protruded from the support plate 110,and upper portions of the heat radiation pins 120 may contact thelongitudinal grooves 141 and the step parts 142 and be supported by thelongitudinal grooves 141 and the step parts 142.

That is, as described above, the unit heat sinks each configured of asingle support plate may be stacked vertically, in addition to theparallel coupling therebetween. In this case, a support plate 110 ofanother heat sink may be stacked on the heat radiation pins 120protruded from the support plate 110, and upper end portions of the heatradiation pins 120 are inserted into the longitudinal grooves 141 andthe step parts 142 formed in the longitudinal direction in the lowerportion of the support plate 110, such that the heat sinks may becoupled to each other so as to be firmly and closely adhered to eachother.

The heat sinks 100 according to the exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention configured as described above are assembled to each otheraccording to the defined number in accordance with a disposition designof the circuit element. First, when the heat sinks 100 are assembled toeach other in the longitudinal direction, the protrusion part 131 andthe groove 132 formed at both sides of the support plates 110 arecoupled to each other to couple the respective side portions of thesupport plate 110 to each other so as to be closely adhered to eachother. Finally, both side portions of the support plates 110 are bondedand fixed to each other using a solder-pin and a plurality of heat sinks100 are coupled in parallel with each other in a form as shown in FIG.4, such that a heat sink (100) assembly extended in the longitudinaldirection is coupled to upper and lower portions of a substrate withinthe substrate, thereby making it possible to discharge heat generatedfrom the circuit elements mounted on the substrate to the outside.

Further, when a heat radiation area needs to be increased in order toimprove heat radiation efficiency of the heat sink, a heat sink assemblyin which the heat sinks are coupled in parallel with each other throughthe protrusion part 131 and the groove 132 formed at both sides of thesupport plate 110 are stacked on and coupled to a heat sink assembly inwhich the heat sinks are coupled in parallel with each other in the sameform, as shown in FIG. 5, thereby making it possible to increase a heatradiation area.

Here, the longitudinal grooves 141 and the step parts 142 formed in thebottom surface of the support plate 110 are coupled to the upperportions of the heat radiation pins 120 formed to be protruded from thesupport plate 110, such that the respective heat sinks 110 may becoupled to each other so as to be closely adhered to each other.

FIG. 6 is a bottom perspective view showing the heat sink according tothe exemplary embodiment of the present invention and a substrate towhich the heat sink is coupled; and FIG. 7 is a side view showing astate in which the heat sink according to the exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention is coupled to the substrate.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, describing a structure in which the heat sink100 according to the exemplary embodiment of the present inventionconfigured as described above is coupled to the substrate in moredetail, disposition designs of the circuit elements mounted on thesubstrate P are determined according to structures of the circuits, andthrough-holes 170 are formed to correspond to sizes of the mountedcircuit elements. In addition, the coupled circuit element is fittedinto and coupled to the heat sink 100 using the element insertion groove150 formed to be depressed from the lower portion of the support plate110 of the heat sink 100 and the element support parts 151 formed to beprotruded at both sides of the element insertion groove 150.

Here, the circuit element coupled to the heat sink 100 through theelement insertion groove 150 and the element support parts 151 moves upto a position corresponding to a position at which it is mounted on thesubstrate P in a sliding scheme, such that it may be coupled to the heatsink without performing a process of drilling a hole in the heat sinkand coupling the circuit element to the heat sink by a bolt. Therefore,manufacturing processes are reduced, thereby making it possible toreduce a cost and improve productivity. In addition, the circuit elementis not fixed to the heat sink, thereby making it possible to simplycorrect a position of the circuit element.

In addition, the heat sink to which the circuit element is coupled tothe upper portion of the substrate so that the circuit elementpenetrates through the through-hole 170, thereby making it possible todischarge the heat generated from the circuit element mounted on thesubstrate to the outside.

As described above, since the heat sink according to the exemplaryembodiments of the present invention includes the element insertiongroove and the element support parts formed in the longitudinaldirection in the lower portion thereof, the circuit element slides andis coupled thereto to reduce a hole drilling process for coupling thecircuit element to the heat sink, thereby making it possible to reduce acost and improve productivity. In addition, the circuit element isfreely moved, thereby making it possible to simply correct a mountingposition.

Further, since the unit heat sinks formed and standardized to havepredetermined lengths and widths according to the number and dispositiondesigns of the elements disposed on the substrate may be assembled invarious forms, only the standardized heat sink is manufactured andapplied to various element design specifications, thereby making itpossible to reduce a cost of a mold for manufacturing the heat sink anda manufacturing cost of the heat sink.

Furthermore, since the heat sinks according to the exemplary embodimentsof the present invention are standardized to have a predetermined widthand length, they may be mass-produced, and the heat sinks having variouslengths, widths, and thicknesses are manufactured using the standardizedheat sink, thereby making it possible to significantly reduce a leadtime required to manufacture the heat sink according to the dispositiondesign and improve productivity in a work site.

Although the exemplary embodiments of the present invention have beendisclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art willappreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions arepossible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the inventionas disclosed in the accompanying claims.

Accordingly, the scope of the present invention is not construed asbeing limited to the described embodiments but is defined by theappended claims as well as equivalents thereto.

1. A heat sink comprising: a support plate; a plurality of heatradiation pins vertically protruded from one surface of the supportplate; an element insertion groove formed to be depressed in alongitudinal direction from the other surface of the support plate; andelement support parts formed to be protruded from the element insertiongroove and supporting a circuit element.
 2. The heat sink according toclaim 1, wherein an inner side of the element support part supportingthe circuit element is formed to be inclined.
 3. The heat sink accordingto claim 1, wherein the element support part is formed to be bent in a‘└’ shape.
 4. The heat sink according to claim 1, further comprising: aprotrusion part formed to be protruded from one side of the supportplate; and a groove formed to be depressed from the other side of thesupport plate.
 5. The heat sink according to claim 4, wherein theprotrusion part and the groove have the same width, and the groove has adepth that is the same as a protruded length of the protrusion part. 6.The heat sink according to claim 1, wherein the support plate includeslongitudinal grooves formed in a longitudinal direction thereof in abottom surface thereof, and a longitudinal groove formed at an outermostside among the longitudinal grooves is formed of a step part.
 7. Theheat sink according to claim 6, wherein the longitudinal groove has thesame width as that of the heat radiation pin.
 8. The heat sink accordingto claim 1, wherein the heat radiation pin includes a horizontalprotrusion formed on an inner side or an outer side thereof in order toincrease a heat radiation area.